The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1887-06-29

calls her Marie. That's what she
wanted me to call her, but it had sort
of Frenchy sound, and | never could
get on to it just right. / forgot and
called her Maria once when there was
company to dinner and she nearly
tainted.
"They had a German the night be-
fore 1 came away and wanted me to
leadp Now / wasn't going to let on
that / never'd seen German. So l
slammed sick, and sat up in my room
and played solitaire all the evening to
keep up my spirits. They had a big
blowout. l gave one of the walters a
dollar to bring me dish of ice-cream
"They said they'd enjoyed my visit
so much, and they'd love to have me
come again and bring you and Corny.
But guess We'll steer clear of 'em after
this. They fly too high for us.
stayed there three days and left
for Concordia, on the Grand Trunk
road. There's a whole nest of the Bios
SONS down there. They've got street
named after them Blossom Boule-
ward they call it, thought I'd have
a grand good time among them all. 1
pictured to myself it must be Thanks
giving and Christmas the year round
family dinner parties and that sort of
thing.
=" / put up with Cousin Sarah. She
married Caleb Kornbeck. Her first
husband was a Smith. He was a
preacher, but Kornbeck deals in flour
and feed. Cousin Sarah seemed real
glad to see me, and I'd hardly got off
my hat and coat before | began to ask
all about John and William and Dora
and Leonidas Blossom, and Julia and
Mary and Melissa and Frances. I'd
got on into the second generation, and
was trying to find out the names of
Henry's children, when l noticed they
weren't answering any of my questions.
So / said:
"' l see Pm talking too fast for you.
Now I'll keep still awhile and let you
tell about the cousins in your own way
AT this Cousin Sarah looked at Korn-
beck, and he grinned, and Cousin Sarah
said, stiffly, she didn't see much of the re-
lations nowadays they hadn't treated
her very well. And Kornbeck chimed
in, and said he thought they were
mean lot and he'd set his foot down
that Sarah shouldn't 60 near them.
hO hO-Nb iNOihpSSh ooiu
he'd be glad to take me around and in
troduce me to the rest of my cousins,
but the fact was he wasn't on speaking
terms with any of them, and he guessed
I'd have to excuse him.
So | set out alone. | called on
eleven families of my relations that
morning, and, would you believe it, not
one of them was on speaking terms
with any of the rest. Kornbeck said
there was property row back of it all.
A matter of four or five thousand dol
lars had just split 'em allup. First they
fought, and now they've got along into
the sulky stage, where they don't speak.
Why, when l was staying with the
Kornbecks the rest of the relations
would cut me dead when l met them on
the street. Then when / went to Johns
the Kornbecks wouldn't have anything
to do with me. And so on with all of
'em. I'd have been in hot water all
around if I'd stayed another week in
Concordia. There was just one point
where they were all of the same mind
every one of 'em told me they'd be
sure and come out and visit me next
summer.
Well then went off into Vermont,
to Shutdown. There's where Ezra and
Gamalel Blossoms folks live. Ezra
was away from home, and they were
sick at Gamaliel's, so visited Sylvanus
Blossom.
"Sylvanus is Ezras second son.
He's poet. He went around in blue
dressing-gown and spent lots of time
in his study writing poetry. He writes
regularly for the Shutdown Banner. The
folks there think he's about the greatest
man that ever was made. They're al
ways bringing him out to make speeches
on Fourth of Julys and at funerals.
He breaches sometimes, too, when they
don't have a minister. The family
didn't talk about anything but him and
his poetry, and / saw, if was going to
make myself agreeable, I'd got to be
all the time whooping it up for him.
His wife lent me some of his verses, so
that should be kind of posted. But
land. l never was any great hand for
poetry, and l couldn't make head or
tail out of it.
"Sylvanus' folks are nice people,
but / could see they didn't think /
amounted to much. 1t seemed to be
because l didn't write poetry. Sylvia
nus said he thought perhaps he might
get some ideas out of the West, and he
shouldn't wonder if he dropped in on
us for a few weeks next summer.
81 stopped at Pericle's Station to
visit Caroline Ruggles, she that was
Caroline Blossom. Ruggles was fur
niture man. He died about five years
ago, and Caroline just took on about
him the whole time l was there. II
nearly drove me crazy. / don't see
why she kept at me so about him
'Twasn't my fault he died. l only
stayed there a day and half. told
Caroline l thought change would dc
her good, and she said she guessed
she'd take her little girl and come out
here when it got warm weather.
f "After that stopped off at Loogootee
, and Greenbrier and Saranac Center
| and Granpian Falls, and finally brought
, up at Daybreak, where there's a lot
, more of the Blossoms. Daybreak's g
! nice town; | think | should have en-
J ioyed it if l hadn't been visiting my
relations. They didn't fight openly
like they did in Concordia-but they
t got there Just the same. When some
, of them got together they'd be toe